My party just finished Spire of Long Shadows, and they are only 14th level (effective: 5 players, 3x14, 2x12). Prince of Redhand is for 15th level parties, so I'm worried that if I go straight in, they'll be screwed, especially for the later adventures. Anyone know of an adventure that I can shoe-horn into AoW that will take the party to 15th or even 16th level?

My players are going to finish PoRH tonight, and they were all lvl 14 (5 characters in all) throughout the entire thing. The Hangman Golem gave them the toughest run, but in all they were able to get through everything just fine, no deaths and some great role play.

There is, however, a great opportunity for side treks (either actually played or simply narrated with a handwave and an award of 10,000xp) at the end of the PoRH if/when they get the book from Lashonna's Triptych Vault listing all the members of the Ebon Triad. Players willing, there could be side-campaign to simply eliminate the few remaining Ebon Triad cells before they head off to the LoLR. They are clearly going to need to be lvl 16 to run through the bulk of that adventure, so that 10,000 XP bonus should do the trick.

To pull off that kind of major sidequest in the timeline between PoHR and LoLR, it would work to follow the suggestion from a much earlier thread to have Lashonna give them the tools to scry on on Darl by themselves, perhaps once they have rid the world of these Ebon Triad problems. Then the events of the LoLR initiate with the peek in on Darl's life, and they are off to Tilagos.

My main concern is not PoR itself, but more that once they get to Alhaster that it will be harder to introduce a side trek, story-wise.

wraithstrike wrote:

Edit:I would find a way to boost those level 12 player's XP, not so much for PoRH, but for the later adventures.

It's more circumstantial, than anything else. We have a standing rule that absent player's characters get played as NPCs and they get 1/2 XP. Both of those players have young kids so they aren't as regular as the other three. And aside from just dumping XP in their laps, I can't support side games to help them along.

wraithstrike wrote:

You can run them through the Pathfinder Module: Tomb of the Iron Medusa (PFRPG) 14th level or Acadamy of Secrets which is 13th level.

You might have to change a few things to make it fit the story though.

My players are going to finish PoRH tonight, and they were all lvl 14 (5 characters in all) throughout the entire thing. The Hangman Golem gave them the toughest run, but in all they were able to get through everything just fine, no deaths and some great role play.

Good to know.

briguy wrote:

There is, however, a great opportunity for side treks (either actually played or simply narrated with a handwave and an award of 10,000xp) at the end of the PoRH if/when they get the book from Lashonna's Triptych Vault listing all the members of the Ebon Triad. Players willing, there could be side-campaign to simply eliminate the few remaining Ebon Triad cells before they head off to the LoLR. They are clearly going to need to be lvl 16 to run through the bulk of that adventure, so that 10,000 XP bonus should do the trick.

Hmmm. I had forgotten about that. I haven't read the adventure since I first read through the whole AP when it first came out. I've got 'till Thurs to decide. They are likely to finish exploring the SoLS and then head back to Magepoint.

briguy wrote:

To pull off that kind of major sidequest in the timeline between PoHR and LoLR, it would work to follow the suggestion from a much earlier thread to have Lashonna give them the tools to scry on on Darl by themselves, perhaps once they have rid the world of these Ebon Triad problems. Then the events of the LoLR initiate with the peek in on Darl's life, and they are off to Tilagos.

I haven't read that thread. Do you by chance remember the thread name? And this is kinda what I'm a little concerned about. I would think that after SoLS is the last time the players really get a chance to "take a breath" before the push to the end. That's why I was thinking this was a good time to put something from the side in here. I suspect given the way attendance goes, its more likely than not that the 3 main PCs will pull even further from the other 2 in level. So they will need to be higher than 15 to start PoR, while the other two are more in the 13-14 range. I've already added Tomb of Horrors to the mix (after Champion's Games) and while that gave them a leg up, they are already behind the curve again. Add that to the fact that I absolutely suck at coming up with my own adventures, I would like to find something I can just plug in.

I agree with briguy - the initial stages of Prince of Redhand shouldn't be too much of a problem. Finding and speaking to Rhorsk is worth a CR 15 XP award, without any significant danger, as is taking on B'kruss's challenges. So long as they're 15th level before meeting the Overgod, they should be okay. Then there's a good opportunity to introduce some side treks when they find the Ebon Triad list (provided they notice and see through the secret page).

As for the 12th-level PCs, they should be gaining XP at a quicker rate if they're behind levels, which would enable them to catch back up.

Thanks everybody for their suggestions. In the end, I've decided to go with Lost Temple of Demogorgon in dungeon #120. I've wanted to run that for a long time, and checked it out this weekend ony to be pleasantly surprised it's designed for a 14th level party. So Tenser will be sending them on a mission to recover the Dread Forge after hearing rumors of it surfacing.

You could instead use a 3.5 converted ToH and have the players actually go through the entire tomb. Just a thought..

I actually did play through it after the Champion's Belt. I only have one old-school gamer in my group who had any idea what it was about, so I wanted context. And since the monk obliterated himself by somersaulting through the green devil's gaping maw, I think it will be that much more memorable.